Turkey's Chief Rabbi (or Hahambasi) Yitzchak Haleva met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad at a Ramadan break-fast dinner earlier this month. Rabbi Haleva had what he felt was a heart-to-heart exchange with the dictator.
The meeting, which included leading Christian and Muslim clerics as well, was called by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Also in attendance at the upscale Istanbul hotel were diplomatic representatives from several nations, including Israel.
When Rabbi Haleva was introduced to Assad, the Syrian leader noted that his country also had a Jewish community. Haleva replied that the Turkish Jewish community provides for the Syrian one certain religious needs, such as kosher food and a mohel, as needed. In an exclusive interview with the Matzav HaRuach weekly Torah publication, Rabbi Haleva said that he informed Assad that his community has been sending wine for Shabbat and matzah for Passover to Damascus Jewish community for many years.
Assad, the rabbi said, replied that he was aware of the connection between the Turkish Rabbinate and the Jews of Damascus. He further promised that the relationship would continue.
Rabbi Haleva said that in his brief conversation with Assad, he expressed the hope of the Jewish people in Israel and in the Diaspora for true peace in the Middle East. The rabbi informed Assad that the Jewish people pray for peace during the Rosh HaShanah holiday at this time of year. 
Rabbi Haleva described Assad as "nice".
"Enough wars, enough mourning, enough destruction and loss," Rabbi Haleva said, to which Assad expressed full agreement, according to the rabbi.
"I felt that he felt my words were from the heart, and I sensed that they entered his heart," Rabbi Haleva told Matzav HaRuach. "And my prayer is that this year, whose arrival we just celebrated, will be a year of peace between Israel and Syria."
According to the Yediot Aharonot news website, Rabbi Haleva described Assad as "nice". His meeting with Assad was part of his duties as a religious official of Turkey who was invited by his prime minister, he said. "It's not a political matter, nor did it offend my Zionist principles," the rabbi was quoted as saying. "I told him we wanted peace and asked him to make peace with Israel."